07 July 2009

Remember this latest change at Maison Cote de Texas (I love how that sounds - makes it seem so glamorous!?) A new lantern was finally hung after waiting patiently for over a year in the garage. The reason for the wait? I first needed permission from Mr. Slipper Socks Man to take down his beloved ceiling fan. And remember his gift to me? That huge black and silver thermometer to the right of the TV? See that gorgeous piece of metal next to the even lovelier TV? It came from Brookstone, I think, some store I never even heard of before. I seriously cried for two days looking at that abomination. The only thing that kept me from smashing it over his head was all your hysterical comments – many of you have this exact fan – a gift from your own husbands! Oh, the horror stories you shared with me. One husband actually went out and bought huge RABBIT EARS for a tiny kitchen TV!!!! Thank God that digital is now mandatory and she can finally toss out the useless antenna.

Wait – here’s the close up. Pretty isn’t it? For a thermometer! Love the cord too. The sad thing is, after Ben had proudly pointed out all its wonderful features – the fan never worked that well: it was noisy and it wasn’t very powerful. AWWWWWW, what a shame!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! A few of you wrote me that he should check out Restoration Hardware’s retro fans. Then, out of the clear blue, he shocked me one day when he came home with a cool looking fan in a box – in black! He tried all day to put it together and finally gave up, taking it back to RH for help. I very sweetly asked him to exchange it for the silver fan, much less noticeable than the black version.

Ta-da! Well? It’s better, come on, it’s a lot better, admit it! It’s retro cute and the silver version kind of disappears into the background. The fan is very quiet, much quieter than the Brookstone one, and it works so much better, too. It actually gets very cold in this room at night. The best part? Mr. Slipper Socks Man is one happy camper now (well, not really. You see his only child, who is now 18, is away at summer camp and he’s sooo mopey and sad and depressed! God knows what he is going to do when she leaves for college next year!)

Ceiling fan problem solved. On to the next issue. Remember last year I posted about my guest room and the zebra rug? I asked you should I take it out or leave it? Most of you said to take it out. You speak, I listen. Yes, it IS a year later, but last week, I finally got a brainstorm about where the zebra would look better.

Zebra rug – gone! This picture was taken last year, today it is now cluttered with you-know-who’s crap, but that’s another story.

Viola! When I got our new coffee table a few months ago, I realized the zebra rug might look good down here. Before, the old coffee table was too low to the ground and the proportions were all wrong for the rug to go under it. But now, I think it kind of looks good here. You can disagree, of course! But I’m happy with it here. After the last post about What’s In/What’s Out – care to count all the trends in this room? Suzani, zebra pillows & rug, lanterns (2), sunburst mirror (out of view), coral, marble grapes, garden seats (2, no less), new mercury glass, antique globes, rock crystal votives, and a lamb (also out of view) – this year’s faux deer head. I TOLD you I can’t resist a trend.

AND, finally, yes, I know. Houston: we have a pillow problem. I am very well aware of the fact that I need to retire the Oly Studios faux zebra pillows asap. I get that. But with what? In the past two years I have tried to change out the pillows numerous times to: Schumacher’s Chenonceau fabric in grey/white, a silk velvet tiger print, a very hip feedbag fabric I bought on Ebay, and a striped awning type fabric. Most of the rejected pillows (along with various rejected suzanis and a faux cow head) ended up for sale at Sally Wheat’s antique booth (Antiques and Interiors on Dunlavy.) So, if you have any suggestions about what pillow fabric would look good here, I am all ears. After all, you solved my fan problem, my zebra problem, and now – maybe you can solve the pillow problem!!!!!